Petersburg’s Blake Smith tops Division I All-District 3 team

Published 6:00 pm, Saturday, December 5, 2009

Blake Smith’s outstanding year was in large part responsible for Petersburg finishing the regular season undefeated and reaching all the way to the regional round of the six-man football playoffs where the Buffs fell to Follett, 73-38.

For his efforts, Smith was rewarded with being named the Division I All-District 3 MVP.

Smith was not alone in being presented with all-district honors. Nine other Buffaloes were selected to the team, and several were honored at multiple positions.

Freshman Thomas Roden was given the Newcomer of the Year award for his standout first-year varsity performance.

Making the first-team offense for the Buffs were junior full back Armando Banuelos, junior utility back Gilbert Salas and senior special teams player Leroy Luna.

On the first-team defense, Salas was selected as a lineman. Junior Robert Gomez was selected as the first-team noseguard and junior Kearby Garza earned the utility player nomination.

Five Petersburg players were selected to the second-team offense.

Garza earned his second place on the team as a tight end, junior Robert Gomez was selected as the second-team quarterback and junior Jose Perez and senior Miguel Vallin were both named second-team running backs.

Junior Josh Ramirez earned two spots on the second-team offense, one as a receiver and the other as a special teams player.

Nominations for the Buffaloes continued on the second-team defense as Banuelos earned his second nomination as a lineman.

Junior Eric Van Gundy and sophomore Joseph Cedillo each earned honors as defensive backs, Cedillo as a safety and Van Gundy as a cornerback.

Rounding out the honors for Petersburg were three individuals who received honorable mention.

Senior Sam Alford was nominated as a tight end, senior Cris Cruz as a center and sophomore Domonic Pennington as a special teams player.

Also making the all-district team were players from Kress and Hart.

Making the first-team from Hart were senior receiver Xavier Chavez and senior running back Christopher Rodriguez.

First-team defensive honors for Hart went to senior Ruben Robledo, who was named the district’s defensive MVP.

Also selected to the first team defense for the Longhorns was Chavez at safety.

For Kress, senior Jarrett Poston was selected as a first-team defensive lineman and Amador was named a first-team linebacker.

Rene Martinez made the second-team offense as a fullback for Hart, Robledo was selected at spread back and Rodriguez was named the second-team kicker.

For Kress, Poston was selected as a tight end, junior Justin Balderas was honored at center, sophomore Ivan Mariscal was selected at utility back and senior Cody Coleman was picked as a special teams player.

Rounding out the selections for Hart on the second-team defense were junior Abel Villegas at noseguard and Ramirez at linebacker.

For Kress, its second-team defensive selections included Coleman at defensive lineman and Amador at punter.